2016 English First Edition (*Review Copy)Published by: Iello Games# of Players: 2 to 6Expands: King of New York and King of Tokyo

One of my first reviews I did was on King of New York by Iello Games. In that article I mentioned that I would like to see a Power Up type expansion to the game. Iello gave me a wink and said soon. That soon is now and I was able to play the new expansion and see how it worked with King of New York. If you have never played King of Tokyo or King of New York, I recommend first reading my review on King of New York. What is packed inside this expansion box is a new kaiju named Mega Shark and evolution decks for the King of New York monsters to play in both King series games. Please follow along as I give you my take on King of New York: Power Up! Expansion.

What is this expansion about?KoNY: Power Up brings an evolution deck for each of the core monsters in the KoNY core box. Each monster has 2 decks, one that is used when playing King of New York and one that is used when playing King of Tokyo. Each player starts the game by drawing the top 2 random cards from their evolution deck and choosing one to keep and one to discard. Whenever a player on their turn rolls 3 Hearts or more, they can draw 2 evolution cards and keep 1. Each monster has two types of evolution cards. Permanent Evolution cards will stay in front of you active for the rest of the game. Temporary Evolution cards are one time effects that are played when directed. Each monster has 8 cards in their evolution decks. The Permanent Evolution cards will have an effect like if you die, roll 3 dice and if one shows a heart, you come back to life with 2 health. A temporary Evolution card may block damage and return some back to the other monster. There are some really fun evolution cards that make each monster feel unique and fun to play. Also included in this expansion is the new monster Mega Shark! He also comes with evolution decks and looks awesome. There is a variant that allows you to mix the various monster evolution decks and deal 8 random cards to each monster for more variability, though balance could be off when played like that.

Final ThoughtsKing of New York is one of those fun gateway games when you want to chuck dice and use monsters to smash stuff. King of New York: Power Up does an excellent job of upgrading the variability in the game and providing each monster a unique feel. I really like the fact that they put Evolution decks for both King of New York and King of Tokyo so that you can cross over easier. I am guessing with the new edition of King of Tokyo, we will see a new edition of King of Tokyo Power Up that will contain the evolution decks for those monsters to play in King of New York. The balance of temporary and permanent abilities was done very well and causes you to make some tough decisions. Do you go for a long term payout or do you need that quick boost to help bring you back from the edge of defeat. Mega Shark is an awesome new monster and one of my new favorites. He needs a card called Sharknado for complete awesomeness. I will not spoil the pop culture reference on one of the cards. I can not see playing King of New York without the expansion now. There is so little extra to teach a new person but adds so much flavor to the existing game. I would recommend this expansion to anyone who enjoys King of New York or wants to breathe new life into the game.

Taco gives King of New York: Power Up! a rating of...

9.0 out of 10

Pros:+ Mega Shark is a great addition+Evolution decks make each monster feel unique+ Monster evolution decks for both games in the series+ Balance of the temporary and permanent evolutions